After I Stopped Being a Simp, My Husband Fell for Me on His Own - Chapter 32

Later, the two of them chatted sporadically about various trivial matters. Most of the time, Yu Yi would enthusiastically send several sentences, while Ji Xingxiao would reply with a single, succinct word, as if words were made of gold.

Whether out of innate politeness or some other reason, Ji Xingxiao replied to every one of Yu Yi’s messages. Back and forth they went until the dialogue box on the communicator stretched into a long page. It was not all nonsense, however; Yu Yi managed to learn the date of Ji Xingxiao’s birthday. It seemed to fall during the winter break, a detail Yu Yi silently noted as he began to make mental plans.

Eventually, Yu Yi drifted off mid-conversation. The communicator was thin and felt like nothing when it landed on his face. He rolled over unconsciously, and his cheek pressed against the holographic screen, extinguishing it. The chat ended on a question mark sent by Ji Xingxiao.

Yu Yi did not see that question mark until he woke up the next morning. Ruffling his hair in a panic, he sent a hasty reply: “I fell asleep last night!”

He did not wait for a response. Meng Zhao was already standing at the door, fully geared up. He said curtly, “Let us go.”

Yu Yi followed Meng Zhao out in a daze. Without even eating breakfast, he climbed into the tricycle Chen Cheng had scavenged from the Lower District. They came to a halt before the energy barrier separating the Upper District from the Contaminated Zone.

Meng Zhao had no intention of waiting for Yu Yi. He nimbly boarded another dilapidated mech and drove into the dark, silent depths of the Contaminated Zone without looking back.

Yu Yi was confused. Why was he not waiting?

“What are you looking at?” Chen Cheng asked. “You are going alone this time. Yesterday was just a trial run to bring you up to speed.”

Only then did Yu Yi realize he had no teammate this time. He was to act alone. Yu Yi was stunned.

“Me, alone?” Yu Yi pointed at himself, his voice trembling. “Is this not a bit too fast?”

“Yes, it is,” Chen Cheng said with a grin as he watched the silhouette of Meng Zhao’s mech vanish into the vast, endless darkness. He slapped Yu Yi hard on the shoulder and offered some encouragement. “Good luck!”

“What if I run into a contaminated creature while I am alone?” Yu Yi shouted.

“What are you afraid of?” Chen Cheng pointed toward the mech with a grand gesture. “See that? I have prepared all the gear for you. You can use any of the weapons in the back seat!”

Was he joking? Even if Yu Yi had never eaten pork, he had seen a pig run. On the online mech training grounds, even the most basic combat mechs were equipped with laser cannons and a variety of cold weapons, all operated by the pilot. Could this pile of ancient bombs from some prehistoric era really deal with contaminated organisms?

“I am not going,” Yu Yi refused flatly. “I cannot win! I have no experience whatsoever!”

He would not even dare go with the high-end mech configurations used by Ji Xingxiao’s team, let alone drive this wreck that was comparable to a tractor. Combat Academy students had to undergo months of high-intensity training before they were allowed near a Contaminated Zone. He had not even been here for a full twenty-four hours. Yu Yi was truly terrified.

“What are you afraid of? You are the safest person here.” Chen Cheng tried to light a cigarette against the wind. He turned his back to catch a spark, took a drag, and continued. “You are immune to pheromones, and you do not release any yourself. To those contaminated creatures that perceive prey through pheromones, you are just a rock or a branch. They will not notice you.”

Yu Yi was silenced. He was convinced.

This trip still had no specific mission; it was simply to build up his tolerance levels. According to Chen Cheng, Yu Yi’s body had already adapted to eight hours. This time, he could stay inside for up to sixteen hours.

“Brother Chen, is there a problem with the math? Did my limit not just increase to eight hours?”

“Oh, those eight hours are the base time,” Chen Cheng said with a grin. “I can hardly let you stay in there for sixty-four hours, can I?”

Although he did not understand the calculation, Yu Yi truly did not want to stay in the Contaminated Zone for that long. He said hesitantly, “It will be too late. I will not be able to get back.”

It was currently 7:00 AM. Sixteen hours later would be 11:00 PM. The trains would have stopped running by then, and he would never make it back to the dormitory.

Chen Cheng said casually, “Can you not just tell your fiancé that you will go straight to class on Monday morning? It is not a big deal.”

“No,” Yu Yi refused almost instantly. “I made a deal with him before I left.”

Mostly, he still only half-trusted Chen Cheng’s words. Chen Cheng chuckled and suddenly asked, “Can you two actually get married?”

Yu Yi froze. “What do you mean?”

Chen Cheng looked innocent, the smile in his eyes never fading. “What do I mean by what? I did not say anything. You must have misheard.”

He did not give Yu Yi a chance to press further. “Go on now. I put some food in the box in front of the pilot’s seat. Come back at 6:00 PM. Have a safe trip.”

Looking at Chen Cheng’s obviously feigned ignorance, Yu Yi did not ask anything else. He climbed into the battered mech, pressed the start button, and drove slowly into the Contaminated Zone. Chen Cheng knew far more about him than he had imagined.

Perhaps Chen Cheng’s words had some effect. When he first drove into the darkness, Yu Yi was nervous because he did not know what to do or where to go. Eventually, he began to relax. Because the path was so quiet, Yu Yi watched the small beam of light ahead and found his mind wandering.

Chen Cheng’s words echoed in his ears: “Can you two actually get married?”

Although he had said those things in front of Yu Qing’s grave a few days ago, Yu Yi did not actually want to marry Ji Xingxiao that badly. On one hand, he had self-awareness. On the other hand, Yu Yi felt he was simply treating Ji Xingxiao as a backer, even if Ji Xingxiao had no intention of letting him rely on him. Yu Yi could tell that despite his cold exterior, Ji Xingxiao was actually quite soft-hearted. Otherwise, he would not have agreed to take him to the Contaminated Zone or helped cover up his mistakes after seeing him cry.

Ji Xingxiao really was a good person.

Stop! Yu Yi gripped the joystick and forced himself to stop thinking. Fine, the truth was he really did want to marry Ji Xingxiao. Heavens! Was there no one who could lock them in a small dark room that they could not leave until they fell in love?

Lost in thought, Yu Yi did not see where he was going. He felt a sudden jolt, as if he had run over a large stone. He turned on the monitor at the bottom of the mech, but it was broken. The screen was pitch black. Considering the state of this mech, it was not surprising.

Yu Yi had no idea where he had driven. He checked the map and realized he had accidentally crossed into an uncleared area. Cold sweat broke out instantly. His instinct was to turn around and leave immediately. Even if Chen Cheng said the creatures could not find him, the man was unreliable. He could not be fully trusted.

As Yu Yi forced himself to stay calm and prepared to turn back, he caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye. In the passenger seat that had been empty moments ago, a blurry, humanoid shadow had appeared. Yu Yi’s head buzzed. A chill surged through his entire body.

What was this thing? He had not noticed its arrival at all.

In his panic, Yu Yi’s fingers fumbled over the console, clicking several buttons at once. The mech slowed down as a result. This was a completely uncleared contaminated area. The shadow moved slowly and silently toward him. Yu Yi stared fixedly at the display screen, not daring to turn his head to look directly at it.

Through the reflection on the screen, Yu Yi saw a distorted hand reach out from the darkness. A cold, damp, and sticky sensation pressed against the back of Yu Yi’s hand, like the skin of a cold-blooded animal. Yu Yi dared not move. His skin crawled.

To his surprise, the hand did not attack him. Instead, it reached past him and toward the storage box. It opened the lid with precision and pulled out a packet of compressed biscuits.

Yu Yi was speechless. Then the creature took another item, and another: biscuits, bread, and nutrition bars. The food in the storage box was nearly gone.

Perhaps it was because the creature, though terrifying, seemed so non-threatening while eating biscuits, but Yu Yi panicked. If he just watched, he would have nothing to eat for the next ten or so hours. In a moment of desperation, he lunged forward and snatched one back.

“That is quite enough,” he muttered. He needed to eat, too.

The moment he snatched it back, regret flooded his mind. This was a contaminated creature! He instinctively pulled his head back, fearing the shadow would strike him. However, the expected attack never came. The creature did not react to his theft. It remained in the passenger seat, unhurriedly finishing the rest of the food. It did not even leave the packaging.

Once finished, the blurry shadow acted like a puddle of black pitch. It flowed slowly off the seat, seeped into the gaps of the cabin, and vanished. Finally, he knew how the thing had gotten in so quietly.

The cockpit was suddenly, terrifyingly silent. Yu Yi sat stunned for a long time, a strange feeling rising in his chest. It really could not see him.

Yu Yi instinctively reached up to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead, but he noticed the navigation map in front of him had changed. The once simple interface had transformed. It seemed that his accidental button-mashing earlier had triggered a hidden interface. New markers and routes appeared on the screen. It clearly labeled various resource points and the goods that needed to be collected. The distances and prices were all marked.

Experimental Fragments: 800 Star Coins per kilogram. Distance: less than 1 kilometer.

Energy Tubes: 1,000 per meter. Distance: 5 kilometers.

Biological Research Institute Encrypted Data Storage: Negotiable, estimated over 10,000 Star Coins. Distance: 10 kilometers.

Yu Yi’s eyes widened as he stared at the flashing numbers. What was this? This mech belonged to Meng Zhao; the markers on the map must have been made by him. Looking at the numbers representing Star Coins, a bold idea suddenly formed in Yu Yi’s mind.

He was going to the most expensive place to get the goods! Since he was already here, he might as well do something useful. If he just wandered around to build up his hours, would he not be taking this huge risk for nothing?

Without hesitation, Yu Yi pressed his finger on the highest-priced location.

The Biological Research Institute.

“Let us go!”

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